James Potter Wiki:Policy
This is the official policy page for the James Potter Wiki. It will grow as problems arise, but the hope is that most issues may never need addressing. The first commandment of the wiki, implicitly agreed upon by wiki editors, and from which stem most of the policies stated herein, such as spelling conventions and in-universe points of view, is: :J. K. Rowling's word is not the law. G. Norman Lippert's info will always be first and Rowling's second. : :This is only true, since the James Potter series is, after all, fan-fiction. Content First and foremost, the James Potter Wiki is exactly that - a wiki, or an editable online encyclopedia on the James Potter universe. We host information, facts, images, and official theories related to both James and Harry Potter on this site, as well as discussions about the material presented here. We do not entertain any fan fiction, images, or ramblings (collectively "fanonsense"), advertisements, spam, or articles not directly associated with the potter universe. You may talk about anything which you like on your talk page, or add the same in your namespace, as long as it is legal. We don't really care. Just remember that this wiki is not a social networking site. If you are making additions to the site but don't have anything of real informative value to contribute, and help out in editing or monitoring - in short, if you don't want to make yourself useful - then scram. All unnecessary content that does not improve the quality of pages and/or the site itself will be deleted. All the content in this wiki (i.e. text, images, music) must be in the public domain; unless you have obtained permission to use them publicly, copyrighted files will be removed, no matter how nicely written or beautifully shot. Quotes, facts, and figures may be taken from anywhere, as long as they are sourced (see below for referencing templates). All text must be original - no copying from Wikipedia or MuggleNet (see No Copy Policy below). Any users or editors who repeatedly refuse to follow these rules may be banned at the discretion of any administrator, and their contributions deleted. Canon All information is derived from: *'G. Norman Lippert', the creator of the James Potter Series **Books including: ***[[James Potter Series|The five James Potter novels]] ***''The Girl on the Dock'' ***''Ruins of Camelot'' **Short Stories ***Harry's First Christmas ***Merlin's Gift ***Petra's Getaway **All information given on the official Facebook page or the Grottokeep Forum. Because the Harry Potter source material is what the stories are based off of, information can also derive from: *'J. K. Rowling' - the original creator of the Harry Potter stories and world **Books ***[[Harry Potter (Series)|The seven Harry Potter novels]] ***''Quidditch Through the Ages'' ***''Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'' ***''The Tales of Beedle the Bard'' **Other writings by Rowling set within the Harry Potter universe, i.e. the "Harry Potter Prequel" short story. **J. K. Rowling's Official Website **''Pottermore'' **Interviews *'Rowling Involved' - sources that do not contain information directly from the "mouth" of J. K. Rowling, yet are projects that she was involved in. **Wizard Cards **''Harry Potter Trading Card Game'' Any information directly or related to Rowling that may conflict with Lippert's writings (ex: The Cursed Child), should not be taken as canon for the James Potter universe. Vandalism If you see an act of vandalism, please revert the page to its original state and report the vandal. Any users committing acts of vandalism will be blocked for a period of 24-72 hours. Repeat offenders will be blocked indefinitely (with the exception of anonymous IP addresses). Administrators may also choose to use their best discretion and block for a longer or shorter period of time. Difficulty to block or otherwise exceptional vandals will be reported to a staffer at Wikia. Style "In-universe" point of view For the sake of consistency, all articles written about people, places, or things within the James Potter universe have to be written from an "in-universe" perspective rather than from a "real world" perspective: for example, "Alicia Spinnet was a Chaser '''in the first five books'"'' should be changed to "Alicia Spinnet was a Chaser '''from 1991 to 1996'". This rule naturally does not apply for subjects ''outside the Potter Universe, such as real people, and the different books and films. Subjects that exist both in the real world and in the JP Universe should be written about from an in-universe perspective (e.g. London, Nicolas Flamel, etc.). Should a reference be necessary, one may use the tag. Naming of articles Article naming of a character or person will, wherever possible, abide by the following conditions: *An article's title should contain the full first and last names **For example: Use Ronald Weasley instead of Ron Weasley or Ronald Bilius Weasley *An article's title should contain the last name used throughout the James Potter series and Harry Potter series, regardless of marriage. **For example: Use Ginevra Weasley instead of Ginevra Potter **For example: Use Molly Weasley instead of Molly Prewett *Titles are not to be used in an article's title. A listing of such titles may be found here. **Titles include: Mr., Mrs. (and derivatives) **For example: Use James Potter's father instead of Mr. Potter **Exceptions for this are characters who are considered fictional in-universe (i.e. Sir Percival Pepperpock) or when the title is part of their actual name (i.e. Mrs. Norris). Deletion Articles, images, categories and other pages in the James Potter Wiki which have been tagged with will be automatically listed in Category:Candidates for deletion and will be deleted after no opposition have been given. Articles which have been previously deleted will be re-deleted if there are no significant improvements; articles which obviously do not belong in the wiki (e.g. vandalism, unrelated topics and articles) will be deleted on sight. (Note: If an article has been tagged for an exceptionally long time without consensus, an admin may or may not delete it at their own discretion.) If your article has been tagged or deleted, please do not take offence - this is not meant against you. You may defend your article on its talk page or deletion page, or talk to an administrator. Never remove the tag before the vote is done - repeatedly doing so may result in a ban of three days minimum. If your article is deleted, please refrain from rewriting it without consensus from your fellow editors. This logic also applies in reverse. Please do not attempt to delete articles by yourselves. Blanking articles is just as bad as removing delete tags from those unfortunate articles, and repeatedly blanking articles (not necessarily the same one) also constitutes a minor offence and may result in a three day minimum ban. If you wish to delete an article, you may use the tags mentioned above, state your reason, and wait for a consensus. Templates When editing character templates, please refer to Template talk:Character infobox for things such as the template colour and the character's house. Page moves and rewrites As with any Wiki article, please do not make drastic changes and rewrites without the consent of other editors. Exceptions can be made if the article is in obvious bad shape. Quality The James Potter Wiki is not an ordinary fansite, it is an encyclopedia. Please give your best efforts in writing, and if you find a typo, grammatical or factual error in an article, be bold and correct it! For most of the lesser known facts, sources would be very much appreciated! And, last but not least - since the series itself is fan-fiction - '' fan art, fanfics and other fan pages should be limited to userspace (e.g. User:Example/HPFiction) and not in the main wiki. Fan-made media will also be allowed'' in places such as the Discuss page. However, all fan pages in the main space will be deleted on sight! Other Policies / Info For more specific policies and guidelines on the James Potter Wiki, please adhere to: * About page * Editing Rules * Layout Guide * Administrators * Privacy policy *